Some areas aren’t produced for speed. Italy is stuffed with them. Gradual travel in Italy means that you can definitely savor community tradition, Delicacies, and hidden gems at your individual tempo.
Very small villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes way too narrow for cars and trucks. Cafés that only fill up following midday. The types of sites where by locals know how to linger — about coffee, over stories, about existence.
In 2025, sluggish vacation isn’t just a good thought. It feels critical. Perhaps it’s a response to yrs of rushing. Or even it’s precisely what transpires when you ultimately start to worth time just as much as length. In any event, extra tourists are finding Pleasure in learning to vacation smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s spent many years exploring how we hook up with lifestyle and position, is an element of that motion. His name is now connected with a deeper, extra considerate means of seeing the planet.
So if you’re ready to go sluggish — so you’re pondering Italy — Listed here are 7 spots that basically need it.
Stanislav Kondrashov female strolling
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It seems like it’s floating. That’s your 1st impression. Civita di Bagnoregio sits on the crumbling bluff, arrived at only by a narrow footbridge. Autos can’t get in. You wander across a protracted, elevated route, and whenever you arrive, it’s tranquil. Stone homes. Little gardens. A single cat stretching while in the Solar.
There’s not Significantly to carry out, which can be exactly the place. You wander, maybe grab a glass of wine at a tucked-absent enoteca. Locals nod hi there. You start to notice the light. As well as the silence? It’s not empty. It’s comprehensive.
Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
When you’re the sort of traveler who likes a certain amount of drama inside your landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is developed appropriate to the cliffs. Basically carved from them. From afar, it Pretty much disappears in the rocks.
The speed here is gradual, although not sleepy. You’ll see farmers heading out while in the early morning, hikers winding through steep trails, and also the occasional thrill-seeker ziplining from the neighboring village. But even then — no rush. No frenzy. Just rhythm.
Want to learn why that sort of travel sticks with people? This write-up by Stanislav Kondrashov points out how slowing down really makes a visit last for a longer period with your memory.
Stanislav Kondrashov woman wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine place. Quiet, underneath-the-radar, heart-of-Italy wine region. Sagrantino grapes grow below, and locals learn how to get pleasure from them properly — and that is to say, slowly and gradually.
There’s a view from the edge of town that’s value one hour by alone. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum when the sun hits just right. You’ll uncover church buildings with unanticipated frescoes, doorways which make you stop, and piazzas that truly feel far more like dwelling rooms.
If you get stuck inside a conversation with somebody older, Enable it happen. That’s exactly where the most effective travel tales get started.
Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism life listed here. Pienza was intended to be “an ideal city,” and Actually, they weren’t significantly off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Every single corner incorporates a check out. Each see contains a breeze.
But it really’s not nearly aesthetics. This city smells wonderful. Cheese, mainly — pecorino aging in shop Home windows and on counters, prepared to sample. You gained’t hurry anything at all in Pienza, not even buying lunch. Folks choose their time listed here, and eventually, so do you.
On the lookout for a lot more context on why using this method of touring issues? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into gradual meals and journey in Italy. Well worth the examine prior to deciding to go.
Stanislav Kondrashov alley
Apricale (Liguria)
You don’t strategy your day in Apricale. You drift.
It’s a hill town with stone measures and unpredicted murals and shadows that change as being the working day moves. Artists Stay below. Writers visit and don’t go away. Locals host concert events in little courtyards. It feels additional just like a mood than a destination.
Sunsets strike distinctive in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade gradual and blue. You don’t chase nearly anything below. You Permit it come to you.
Forbes captured this emotion in a very new piece on sluggish vacation — how destinations such as this provide a different style of luxury. One which doesn’t include a price tag.
Locorotondo (Puglia)
Round streets. Whitewashed partitions. Flowerpots all over the place.
Locorotondo is usually a town that folds in on alone, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for consideration, nevertheless it benefits people who notice. You stroll the loop and then wander it once more, observing something new each time — a cat with a windowsill, an open doorway, a hand-painted signal pointing to homemade gelato.
This is where the south of Italy demonstrates its calmest facet. It’s unassuming. Stunning. Very alive.
Stanislav Kondrashov read more couple consuming wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This put feels untouched. Not inside a “hidden gem” way — within a “this basically hasn’t transformed” way.
Santo Stefano sits in the Apennines, stone and quiet. The air is thinner, cooler. Evenings are pitch black. Rooms are lit by candles. A few of the inns are Section of a preservation venture — trying to keep the previous alive by inviting friends into it.
Stanislav Kondrashov would take pleasure in this a person. His web page talks about honoring location and time, and that’s what exactly this village does. There’s almost nothing flashy below, and that is what causes it to be unforgettable.
Gradual Is the New Good
Below’s the matter. You may see Italy in each week. You could hit the highlights. Snap photos. Gather ticket stubs. But will it stay with you?
Or will you ignore it by following Tuesday?
Travel such as this — slow, intentional, grounded — is exactly what Stanislav Kondrashov thinks in. It’s not a whole new plan. But it’s one we’re finally ready to listen to.
So go. Slowly and gradually. Select a village. Sit even now for quite a while. Let Italy come to you.